Tulsa County Associate District Court Judge Dana L. Kuehn approved the $24.1 million brokered sale of downtown's iconic Mid- Continent Tower on Monday, opening the door for attorneys to finally put its 17-year foreclosure to rest.
"That is a great question," he said in an e-mail. "I have been precluded from discussing those issues until the court had approved of a buyer, which they have now done. I am proud of our accomplishments here over the past 18 years and hope to continue my involvement in some capacity, now that the building will be exiting foreclosure. I am excited about the future of Mid-Continent Tower under the ownership of Mr. Bumgarner."Once completed, Mid-Continent will give Bumgarner control of three of the four corners at Fourth Street and Boston Avenue. Besides the 331,240-square-foot Mid-Continent, he owns the block- long 320 S. Boston Building and the 165,202-square-foot Kennedy Building.Both Martin and Argue testified Monday about the many procedures used to inform potential buyers about the site. Both told the court the Bumgarner bid represented the best and highest offer.Bumgarner also owns two of Midtown Tulsa's Class-A office complexes, the 10-story Utica Place as well as Utica Plaza. He developed both properties.Unfortunately for Reading and Bates, the nation's energy sector changed dramatically during that construction process. The 1970s' abundance of expensive deep-drilling projects dried up after the collapse of Penn Square Bank and global oil markets. Burdened by a tightened market that lasted into the 1990s, the cost of that headquarters construction project played a major role in the oil- field contractor's reorganization and the building's 1994 foreclosure.With the case on the verge of completion, Argue's tenure as receiver, and perhaps as the building's manager, will soon come to an end. Although he has interests in other properties, Argue said he didn't know what he would do next.The deal departed from the sheriff sale format traditionally used with foreclosed properties, applying instead a commercial market listing and bid procedure overseen by CB Richard Ellis of Oklahoma's Tulsa office market broker Mary Martin.Through that two-month process - completed July 19, its results filed in the Tulsa County Courthouse Aug. 1 - the Tulsa firm 2011 Mid-Con Acquisition LLC, led by John Bumgarner, placed the high bid for the 36-story structure, its 400-slot parking garage across the street, its art collection and other associated assets.Although singular in its name, Mid-Continent Tower actually refers to two art-deco buildings. Pioneering Tulsa oil entrepreneur Joshua Cosden started the process in 1918 by building the city's first skyscraper, the 16-story Cosden Building.Six decades later Reading and Bates bought that property and the neighboring lot to raise an opulent landmark headquarters. After renovating Cosden's original tower, the drilling company hired Flintco to build a 36-story addition cantilevering over the original structure. Finished in 1984, the buildings present the look and feel of one structure capped by a distinctive copper hood.Having paid 5 percent down with his bid, Bumgarner now has 30 days to complete the transaction. Representatives for trustee Bank of America will then distribute the proceeds to close the foreclosure case.The acquisition strengthens the other two by adding a covered parking component through the Mid-Continent Auto Park. Pedestrian tunnels link all four sites.
"That is a great question," he said in an e-mail. "I have been precluded from discussing those issues until the court had approved of a buyer, which they have now done. I am proud of our accomplishments here over the past 18 years and hope to continue my involvement in some capacity, now that the building will be exiting foreclosure. I am excited about the future of Mid-Continent Tower under the ownership of Mr. Bumgarner."
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